Absolute cheapest possible temp control.

Thermostat: $3.75
Banana plug: Free
Extension cord (old/busted): free
Aquarium heater: $14

Problems:

1. Thermostat starts at 70*f and goes up from there.
2. Analog, heating only.
3. Imprecise resolution (like 5*f swings)






I should add that I have two more of these, and have access to a bunch more if anyone is interested.

tht seems a little high. can you break it open and dial it down?

What good is a brewing temp control that only goes down to 70f?

i was trying to play nice.

Upon further investigation, when it says 70, that means 68, and there is no "off". I thought that if you turned the dial below 70 that it would be off, but it goes to what looks like 68, which I'm guessing would be 66.

I think I'm going to end up buying a ranco anyway, but this was so cheap I think I'll use it until I get a fridge for fermenting. Right now all I need to use is a storage bin full of water and an old aquarium heater. The carboy will be slower to heat than the water, right? So if the thermister thinks it's 68, the temp of the ferment would probably be a few degrees lower, right?

Upon further, further investigation, screw it. I just bought that cheap one on ebay that all the electricians in this forum are arguing about.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ategory=163866&_trkparms=algo=LVI&its=I&otn=1

Crazytwoknobs said:

Upon further, further investigation, screw it. I just bought that cheap one on ebay that all the electricians in this forum are arguing about.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ategory=163866&_trkparms=algo=LVI&its=I&otn=1

Click to expand...

once you get it hooked up and running post back how accurate it is.. was thinking of getting a couple of these..

yeah, i'm really interested to see if this will kick on a fridge or whatever, please let us know how it works out.

I'm still planning on using it to regulate the temperature of a water bath surrounding a carboy. Cheap and easy.

But yeah, I'll totally let you know.

It's arrived, but I don't have any fermentations to control!

The thing is TINY but seems well built. It's dense, and those orange clips on the side are pretty cool looking.
It's meant to be mounted into something, some sort of tiny rackmount thingy.

We have some Johnson controls units at work that regulate the temperature of the greenhouses, and this thing seems like you could give it a bit more of a beating on the outside.

I'll wire it up and test it on a water bath.

How many amps is your heater pulling? It looks like this controller is only good for 10 amps.

Not many...

It's a 40w meijer brand aquarium heater... Don't have it in front of me but I'll check before I hook it up.

I recently used that ebay temp controller for a build. It's rated for 15a/120v on each side (heat and cool). So it should be fine for you heater. I've been running a 1500 watt space heater on its medium setting for about a week now without any issues.

I think the 10a you are seeing is for the 240v model.

rcm_rx7 said:

I recently used that ebay temp controller for a build. It's rated for 15a/120v on each side (heat and cool). So it should be fine for you heater. I've been running a 1500 watt space heater on its medium setting for about a week now without any issues.

I think the 10a you are seeing is for the 240v model.

Click to expand...

Ok that makes more since.

Do these come with everything you need to control a kegarator, or do you need a power supply and an ssr?

Most aquarium heaters have a built in thermostat. The one I use for fermentation warming during the winter goes from 64 to 82F.

TBLbrewer said:

Do these come with everything you need to control a kegarator, or do you need a power supply and an ssr?

Click to expand...

Not quite everything you need. You need to wire it up of course. It comes with a pretty accurate thermocouple, the only other parts you need would be some wiring (as long as the kegerator doesn't draw more than 15a). If and when I scale up my brewing and need a keezer, this is the temp controller I would use. Android has a pretty good thread with a wiring diagram.